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It’s hot, real hot. Again. The summer has broken all heat records and those chunks of Antarctica that have broken away have pushed water levels so high that you’re surrounded by water. But no chunks of ice.

At first the heat feels good; it’s like having your own hot tub. But soon you become uncomfortable. You need to cool down. You need a beer. A beer will help you through this crisis. But which beer goes best with hot weather?

“Steward!” you call. “Assemble the players and let the matches begin!”

The Brewing News is pleased to announce the 11th Annual Global Warming Open, a contest pitting refreshing summer beers against one another to determine the most refreshing beer in America. Like the National IPA Championship, beers will be accepted by any brewery choosing to enter the competition. Participating breweries will be placed randomly into the competition brackets. Judges will be choosing the winning beer on a single elimination basis. Winners of the each round will advance to the next round. The judges, all craft beer connoisseurs, will sample the beer in sweltering summer conditions.

And this year, the second decade of the GWO, we are expanding the impact of our competition to include hoppy, refreshing beers. We're sure a lot of you, given the choice, would choose a hoppy pale ale or session IPA while watching the world’s end!

Best of all, the Global Warming tournament is a Beer Bracket! Our readers will be able to make their own choices as to who they think will win each round. After reading a brief description of each individual beer as well as view an image, participants can fill out their brackets and choose a winner. A grand prize will be awarded to the readers who predict the correct winner and has the most correct in each GWO bracket. The top prize will be a free case of each of the 2018 Global Warming Open Champions beer: Most Refreshing or Hoppily Refreshing! Results of each round will be posted on-line within twenty-four hours of that round. Final results and winners will also be published in all seven August/September 2018 issues.

Here's the details on making your picks:

Visit our on-line Locker Room for full descriptions of each of the GWO competitors: After confirming your age, you will then be able to review the beers and then proceed to our on-line contest. Want to know if your favorite beers advances to the next level? Follow their progress on-line using the link provided in the Locker Room. GWO winners are posted to the web site within 24 hours of each round. Sign up for Beer Brackets email, and we'll notify you once the locker room is ready!

Contest Rules: Only ONE entry per person. Multiple entries will result in that contestant being disqualified. All picks must be made by the entry deadline, TBA. GWO winners will be determined by the total points earned from each round. (Brewing News employees can enter the contest, but are not eligible to win any prizes.)

The Judging Process: Judges are organized into panels of 3, and given the task of choosing the most refreshing beers between two beers. The judges will not know what beers they are being served. The majority rules on the voting.

A steward will serve the panel the two beers (Sample "Alpha" and Sample "Beta"). The beers will be served in clean, small cylindrical glasses. Each sample will be a 3 ounce pour. Once the preferred beer is chosen, the panel will move to the next sample. No panel will judge more than six pairs.

At the completion of the judging session, the names of the beers will be revealed to the panels and audience at large. The winners will be posted to the web site within 24 hours. Good luck!

•••••Remember: Click here to sign up for our Beer Brackets email! We'll let you know when the locker room is open! ••••